The effect of corrosion on the natural frequency and modal damping of reinforced concrete beams

Abstract

An experimental investigation to study the effect of general corrosion on the modal parameters of reinforced concrete beams was conducted. The full scale beams were subjected to reinforcement corrosion until an appreciable amount of steel corrosion damage was introduced. The states of damage in the test beams were assessed through measurement of crack width and spalling. Modal tests were performed on the test beams after corrosion damage and the modal parameters extracted were compared against that from a control beam. The results obtained showed changes in the modal parameters especially natural frequencies and damping ratio. The trend in the measured natural frequencies was sensitive to the deterioration state of the beams. Changes in modal damping ratio for the transfer function method and the normal mode method were also observed. However, the changes were inconsistent with the changes in natural frequencies, as concluded by previous researchers, but a trend was observed which was rather mode dependent. Furthermore, the load carrying capacity of the beams was determined through static load test and the results were correlated with the state of corrosion damage and changes in the modal parameters. This investigation provides further insight on the use of modal parameters to detect damage in structural concrete elements which can be useful for structural appraisal and assessment purposes when applied to full scale structures.